When D Magazine asked me to write a taco feature for the September issue, I decided to showcase 37 tacos representing the best the city has to offer. People scoff, but Dallas takes its tacos as church-pew seriously as other Texas cities. Our patch of the Lone Star State—with its outdated reputation for big hair, steakhouses, strip clubs, $30,000 millionaires, and the pretensions to match—is an incredible taco city. Which makes the whole brouhaha in response to the September cover LOL funny, as San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg eloquently stated via Twitter.
San Antonians take pride in their tacos, and they should. The Alamo City is the home of the puffy taco, an inflated, fried treat that fills me with nearly as much love as I experienced when I first saw my newborn son. But here’s the God’s honest truth: Dallas’ taco scene is on par with that of any Texas city, including San Antonio. And the ascendency of Dallas to its rightful place as a Texas taco capital does not detract from the tacos of other towns.
So, to San Antonio, I say relax. Dallas doesn’t own tacos. San Antonio doesn’t own tacos. They’re a gift from our Mexican brothers and sisters. Rather than squabble, let’s get together to find the common ground in tacos as a force for good, and break some nixtamalized corn tortillas together. The offer still stands. The feature is online today. Give it a read and let’s break masa. Then head over to our taco bracket to choose your favorite and make your voice heard.
